Samantha Dorsey, McEvoy Ranch
Inspired by her love of Tuscan olive oil, Nan McEvoy founded McEvoy Ranch in 1990. After purchasing a sprawling former dairy farm in Petaluma, Nan imported 1,000 seedlings from Italy, determined to produce the same top-quality olive oil in California. Her daring vision came to fruition, enabling her to share the olive oil she first fell in love with everyone who has discovered McEvoy Ranch since. Today, under the leadership of Nan’s son and grandchildren as well as President Samantha Dorsey, McEvoy Ranch has diversified into body care, wine, and culinary products. Yet their focus remains on quality, sustainability, and health—all in a location that rivals its inspiration Tuscany for natural beauty and splendor. In this Member Spotlight, we chat with Samantha about her background and learn more about makes McEvoy Ranch so special.
McEvoy Ranch, 5935 Red Hill Rd, Petaluma, CA 94952; mcevoyranch.com
Farm Trails member since 2003
How did you get interested in farming?
While in high school, I was fortunate enough to participate in a farm gleaning project where high school kids would go around to local farms and glean the last produce left in the fields and we’d deliver it up to the food bank in Novato. That experience, plus my mother and grandmother’s love of gardening, led me to want to grow food for a living.
I joined the McEvoy Ranch team when the ranch was just over 10 years old and the team was still planting new olive orchards. Mrs. McEvoy was one of the early pioneers of California’s modern day olive oil industry and really inspired so many other growers to plant this extraordinary crop of the future. These trees are a perfect crop of California because they require less water than other commodity crops, they are carbon sinks (because they are a permanent crop), the fruit can withstand wildfire smoke without affecting oil quality, and the oil itself is one of the healthiest ingredients we can eat!
What do you grow?
McEvoy Ranch has over 50 acres of certified organic olive trees that produce olives for our award-winning olive oil. In addition to making extra virgin olive oil (the top quality of all olive oils), we also make a wide array of agrumato-method, or flavored, oils where we co-mill the olives with fresh fruits, herbs, and spices.
Our estate-grown and -produced olive oil is also the star ingredient of our ODE olive oil beauty line. Do you know how good olive oil is for your skin, too? So good! It is filled with antioxidants, squalene, and has antimicrobial properties that make it a great cleanser and moisturizer.
What do you find most rewarding about your work?
It is so fulfilling to be making healthy food for our community. All of the employees at McEvoy Ranch are so proud of these beautiful and delicious products that we make: olive oils, wines grown from local grapes, scrumptious sweet and savory culinary products, and ODE olive oil beauty. Everything that we make is good for you and made with care and skill by our team. It is such a pleasure to contribute to our local community and economy by producing healthy things to eat and enjoy.
What do you value about being a member of Farm Trails?
Well, we make a lot of olive oil. More than we can even eat ourselves. So we absolutely love sharing our oils and other products with everyone! Farm Trails plays such a crucial role in our agricultural community by connecting farms and farmers with the community. Our business is 100% dependent upon serving lots of happy guests and customers and Farm Trails is a perfect match maker!
What are your hopes for the future of your business and/or Sonoma County ag?
No matter what else happens in the world, we all still need to eat. So the more of us who know how to grow food, and the more of us who are able to grow food locally, the more stable our local community can be. I hope that agriculture continues to thrive in the north bay so that we can work towards greater food security for all residents in our region.
What advice would you share with someone starting out in your line of business?
You have to love what you grow. If you are ambivalent about your crop, it is going to be much less fulfilling. Fortunately, so many of our local crops have so many positive attributes. Olives, grapes, apples, flowers, goats, sheep, you name it! All of them are delightful in some way. Just make sure that whatever you grow is truly delightful to you. Because agriculture is a slog and a lot of work and there will be less delightful days, so best to love what you are making so you can enjoy it at the end of a long day.
Photos of Samantha Dorsey courtesy of McEvoy Ranch. All other photos by Lisa Rose / The Farmers Photographer.